As Cathay Pacific's sister airline, Cathay Dragon's commitment to sustainable development includes putting the safety and well-being of our people and customers first, contributing to the communities we fly to and continually improving our environmental performance.

Our commitment to excellence and our sense of responsibility is driven by the motto of the Swire Group, our principal shareholder: "Esse Quam Videri", meaning "to be, rather than to seem to be".

We operate in a region that will see the biggest growth in our industry – which is great for our business, but also brings about increased impacts on the environment and communities. According to Boeing, it is anticipated that airline traffic (measured by revenue passenger kilometer - RPK) will increase by more than 5% from 2011 to 2030. In Asia Pacific alone, the long-range forecast for 2011 anticipates delivery of 11,450 new airplanes over the next 20 years, valued at more than $1.5 trillion.

Aviation is being increasingly brought under international limelight due to the industry’s reliance on fossil fuels, increasing regulations, external interest, consumer and investor needs and other risks and liabilities associated with our operations. Our people and customers expect us to be the best in everything we do; they increasingly look at how we operate as a business. And so do we.

Operating our flights, meaning continuously improving our flights operations, both in the air and on the ground, making them more fuel efficient by investing in the best available technology and utilising optimum flight management procedures

Managing our infrastructure, by enhancing the environmental performance of our ground infrastructure and support services in Hong Kong and at destinations across the network

Interacting with our customers, by providing them with sustainable products and services

Working with our supply chain, by developing partnerships with our suppliers to address and improve the social and environmental impacts of our supply chain

Investing in people and communities, by supporting them at the workplace, empowering them to make a difference in local communities across the Cathay Pacific Group network

These five focus areas were identified through a rigorous internal strategy review process in 2009 and 2010 and were informed by various consultations with our stakeholder groups.

To know about our initiatives and progress to date, please consult our latest Sustainable Development report, our other publications, or contact us at environment@cathaypacific.com